Invasion
by Torotyrannus15
Summary: Earth wasn't the only planet the Homeworld Gems invaded, nor was it the only planet that had an army to fight back...
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Steven Universe fanfiction. It doesn't have much to do with the actual show, but it does center around a major event. Well not exactly, but I don't really know what else to call it. This story may not technically have spoilers, but I'm assuming most SU fans have seen the episodes regarding the Kindergarten, and it was heavily implied that the Homeworld gems have been doing that for a while on other planets. I thought a fanfic like this was deserved. This will be a short fic, probably no more than 2 or 3 chapters, but it'll be good, trust me.**

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The twin suns shimmered in the blue afternoon sky, brightening the landscape on this side of the Planet. There were many wide, grassy plains in this region, leading south towards the upland forests and mountains. Many creatures spent their days calmly grazing on the wide open prairies, but the wildlife of this planet were in one way different than those of others; many species possessed relatively high cognitive thought, and were aware of their place in their world

A large herd of such creatures were feeding on the fresh grass now. They were medium-sized quadrupeds and were covered in gray, scaly skin. They had long, flexible tails and three claws on each foot. They had strong jaws and sharp outer teeth for occasionally eating carrion, though their main diet was herbivorous. The creatures' most distinguishing feature was their eyes, which were mounted on long, stiff stalks extending sideways outward from their heads, giving them excellent peripheral vision.

These stalk-eyed animals lived in large family herds on the plains. The rainy season had passed, and with it the breeding season, and the herd was grazing around a large, hill-like mound made of rocks and soil rising out of the grassland. Inside the mound were several dozen shallow, dug-out nests containing up to 10 ovular brown eggs, due to hatch any day now. Mounds like this were dug out by the stalk-eyes to house their nests and young, and there were several medium-sized holes in the upper areas of the mound to let sunlight in to keep the eggs warm during incubation. A few larger entrances were dug out at the bottom of the mound, which allowed sentries to come and go as they took turns guarding the eggs from intruders. The herds encircled the mounds at all times for this very purpose of keeping other creatures out.

At the front of the herd, watching over the others, was the alpha of the herd, a huge bull stalk-eye named Attagornis. Attagornis was the largest male in the herd, and had led and protected them for many years. Mature males like himself had thick, armored foreheads for sparring with each other over females or leadership of the herd, colored blue to emphasize their status.

Attagornis' hide was littered with scars and old battle wounds, the result of years of experience fighting for his position and fending off persistent carnivores. As alpha, Attagornis was highly revered by his herd, especially the young ones, the vast majority of which were his own children, as were most of the eggs safe in the mound. Such was normal for the leader of the herd. The young always looked up to him, and he enjoyed their company, especially telling them stories from his youth. It was impossible to count how many times Attagornis had saved their lives, and the lives of several members of his herd, but he was always willing to do what he had to do to keep them safe.

As Attagornis tore up another mouthful of grass, his right eye detected movement in the grass not far away. His species' eyes could move independently, making their field of vision all the bigger. Attagornis lifted his head from the ground and rose up on his powerful hind legs to further scan the surrounding area. He could see nothing except his herd and the still grassland, when suddenly, the faintest movement in the tall grass caught his attention. Attagornis stared into the grass, straining his eye to catch any irregular movement, when, out of nowhere, a lanky, speedy creature shot out of the grass and charged the herd. Attagornis roared the alarm call the moment the thing appeared, which was soon revealed to be a screecher, a fast, pack-hunting predator with six legs, a whiplike tail, and a gorgonopsid-like snout.

The screecher cried like a banshee, and over a dozen more screechers charged out of the grass and attacked the herd. The stalk-eyes, however, crowded together in a circle formation, with the young running towards the nesting mound. The entire herd closed tightly around the nesting mound, making sure that nothing would get through to the eggs.

The screechers circled the herd, quickly sprinting around them and then stopping, before sprinting around the tightly-knit cluster again. They were looking for a weak spot.

Suddenly, the alpha screecher howled, and several smaller screechers burst from the grass and into the herd, darting in between the larger animals' legs after the young and eggs. Attagornis roared an order to his herd and began stomping his feet everywhere around him, crushing every delta screecher he could catch, and the others immediately followed. The delta screechers had no chance; they were all crushed and stomped and kicked and bitten to death within moments, but Attagornis knew that the deltas had only been a distraction for the real attack.

While the stalk-eyes had been focusing on the delta screechers, the alpha gave the signal for the larger hunter screechers to attack. They charged the herd, leaping onto the stalk-eyes' backs and raking their razor-sharp claws down their prey's hides. Attagornis roared and shook the screechers off, and rammed them with his strong head when they tried to pounce again. Attagornis roared mightily, refusing to give in.

The stalk-eyes fought bravely, but the screechers were relentless in their assault. The stalk-eyes were much stronger than the predators, but the screechers were much more agile and evaded their prey's blows.

The alpha screecher shrieked furiously and leaped onto Attagornis, sinking its fangs into the mighty stalk-eye's neck. Attagornis roared in rage and snapped his strong jaws onto the screecher's tail and ripped it off him. Attagonis roared in fury at the screecher, and the two alphas engaged in battle, biting, kicking, and clawing at each other monstrously.

It seemed like neither side would win, when suddenly, out of nowhere, the entire sky turned a threatening shade of red, causing the stalk-eyes and the screechers to halt in their battle and stare up at the sky in confusion.

In moments, hundreds of dark shapes appeared in the red sky, descending towards the Planet surface. All the animals in the surrounding region looked up from what they were doing at the anomaly above.

In all his years, Attagornis had never seen something like this. The dark shapes in the sky grew bigger and bigger as they neared the Planet's surface, and became clearer. The animals had no idea what they were looking at, thus they could never have imagined that it spelled doom for their world and all that it supported.

As the strange objects from the sky neared the ground, Attagornis recognized them as some kind of vessel. He had never seen transport like this before, but he assumed some ground creatures may be using them to travel long distances faster. He could never hope to guess how these vessels flew without wings, though, as wings were the only known source of true flight on the Planet.

Attagornis spotted many large, spherical objects flying alongside the vessels, and as they became clearer, they appeared to be gigantic eyes. As the strange vessels neared, the alpha screecher howled for his pack to flee, but the stalk-eyes, including Attagornis, were frozen in fear and confusion.

The vessels stopped in their approach a few hundred feet above the ground, and only now did Attagornis see how massive they truly were. The huge ships were bigger than the largest creatures on the Planet, the thunder-walkers, and the very largest was nearly the size of a mountain! All the animals in the area stared up in silence at the enormous ships hovering above, having no idea what kinds of beings were within, watching them.

Suddenly, the large, floating eye-like objects pointed at the ground and began firing huge rays of glowing energy at the animals, blasting huge craters into the ground and incinerating any creature hit. At this the animals, intelligent or otherwise, knew they had to run.

Attagornis roared for his terrified herd to run as other creatures stampeded around them to get away, but, though they tried to stay together, the stalk-eyes were separated in the chaos. Attagornis was frantically trying to lead a part of his herd to safety, but he then looked back to see that the red eyes had stopped firing, and the smaller ships from the fleet were landing, and groups of strange, bipedal creatures were leaving them.

Several large machines were then deployed by some of the ships, and began tearing up the ground violently. Attagornis then remembered; the nesting mound! The eggs were still in there, completely unprotected! If something wasn't done, they would be destroyed! Attagornis bellowed as he charged back towards the scene, calling the fractured groups of his herd to him. They heard, and can running to his side as they charged back to save their young. Other animals saw them, and the stalk-eyes' courage inspired them as well. These alien creatures were attacking their home, and something had to be done.

The invaders' machines were causing the ground to shake as they began terraforming the grassland, but their plans were interrupted when a horde of enraged wildlife made their charge in a counterattack.

Attagornis had never seen creatures like these; almost every one was a different color, and they all varied wildly in appearance, though most seemed female in shape. As Attagornis' herd of rebels charged them, he saw that they all had a single gemstone embedded in different places on their bodies. Attagornis had seen gemstones and crystals before, but never on a creature's being. And when the invaders saw the animals approaching, they pulled rather threatening, non-biological weapons out of the gemstones in a flash of white light.

The animals clashed with the invading aliens with gems on their bodies, and many put up a good fight, but ultimately the invading creatures fought harder, using their weapons, which the animals were hardly any match for. Attagornis was frantic as animals who had followed were brought to the ground all around him, including members of his own herd.

Attagornis tried to get his herd back together, but then he saw one of the invaders not far from him. This one was large, about twice his height, and it had a huge volume of hair the color of the grass lilies that bloomed in the spring flowing from its head. It held a straight, pink blade in one hand and an armored shield in the other. Judging by how it was attired, and the other invaders that were fighting the angered beasts alongside it, this one was likely a high-ranking authoritative figure.

Attagornis was first entranced by the creature's irrefutable beauty, but he then realized that, as a leader, this creature was causing this. She was leading the others in destroying the stalk-eyes' home!

Attagornis heard a roar nearby him. It was Algran, a large male stalk-eye whom was Attagornis' second-in-command. He too must have realized what Attagornis had, and was enraged beyond reasoning about it. Before Attagornis could stop him, Algran roared and charged the leader. Algran was bent on killing her for what she was doing, and was charging at full speed, when a voice suddenly called,

"Rose! Look out!" And in a fraction of second, a spear came flying towards Algran and harpooned him deep in the side. Algran squealed in agony as he crashed to the ground, the spear embedded in his hide and crimson blood pouring from the fatal wound. Attagornis looked on in shock as a shorter, much lankier gem creature approached the fallen stalk-eye and pull the spear from his mortally wounded body, blood flowing from the injury.

Attagornis' face contorted into an enraged scowl. It was one thing to attack his home, but it was another thing altogether to murder his friend. Furious, Attagornis roared and thundered toward the pink-haired gem creature, a flame of anger combined with hatred and vengeance burning inside him.

Attagornis charged passed the lanky white creature, and the pink-haired one barely had time to lift her shield before Attagornis slammed into it, snapping his jaws at it and pushing against the shield with all his might.

Out of the corner of his left eye, Attagornis saw the white creature charging towards him with its spear. Attagornis turned to face it and roared threateningly. Attagornis then fought the one who had killed Algran, making sure to be careful of her sharp spear. She jabbed her spear at him, but Attagornis dodged the attack and clamped his strong jaws onto the end, entering a power struggle with the white gem creature.

Attagornis, with his superior strength, would have ripped the spear out of the white one's hands and snapped it in two with his jaws, but he was suddenly hit in the side of the head by a powerful force, knocking him away from his current adversary. Attagornis looked up to see that a much shorter, red gem creature had hit him with its armored right hand.

Attagornis knew that he could not win a three-on-one fight, so, with a glare of pure rage and hate at the pink-haired creature, he turned tail and ran back towards the hills. The animals of the plains had been ravaged by the fight, as they were so ill-prepared for such a battle, and the survivors were hurriedly fleeing the scene. Attagornis was among them, and he was searching for the remnants of his herd when he remembered the eggs in the nesting mound again.

Attagornis looked back to see that the gem creatures' machines were razing everything in their path, and the mound lay directly in front of them! Attagornis, not wanting to fight but instead save any young that remained, charged back toward the site and avoided any contact with the gem creatures.

Attagornis soon reached the mound, the vibrations from the huge machines tearing up the earth causing chunks from the mound to shake off and tumble to the ground. Without stopping, Attagornis ran into the mound, but what he saw made him gasp.

Chunks from the mound's roof had been shaken loose, and rained down on the nests, smashing every single egg. Pieces of eggshell and dead embryos were littered about the floor. Attagornis bowed his head in sorrow. The young were all dead. They hadn't even gotten a chance to hatch out of their shells.

Attagornis was about to leave and save his own life, when he suddenly heard the crack of eggshells hatching. Attagornis rapidly turned to see that, at the far end of the nests, three eggs had survived, and were beginning to hatch.

Attagornis then heard something, and looked up to see that the pink-haired gem creature had entered the mound, right where he last eggs were hatching! For a heartstopping moment, Attagornis thought that she would murder the hatchlings before they even came. But, she did nothing. She just stood their, looking directly at Attagornis as he did her.

Before anything else happened, Attagornis roared and ran towards the nest and stood over the eggs, snarling, determined to protect them even if it cost him his life.

However, to the bull stalk-eye's surprise, the pink-haired gem creature merely backed away, allowing Attagornis to turn his attention back to the eggs, who had hatched out into three tiny, silver stalk-eyes, all males. The babies squealed and cried out for their parent, the eyes on the end of their stalks closed tightly, as they would be for the first month of their lives.

Attagornis stole a quick glance at the gem creature. She was still doing nothing, only staring at the stalk-eyes with what seemed like a forlorn and regretful expression. Not taking his eyes off her, Attagornis lowered his head to the hatchlings and made a deep rumbling noise in his throat, and the young responded instinctively by gripping onto Attagornis' eye stalks with their claws and tails.

Attagornis then raised his head again, and stared at the pink-haired one. Then, Attagornis turned and left the mound.

With the last of his children safely in tow, Attagornis ran as fast as his legs would carry him away from his former home and towards the uplands. He stopped to look back only once. The gem creatures were now using tall, four-legged machines to inject something into the ground. Attagornis didn't know what they were doing to the Planet, but he prayed that whatever happened, he and his last remaining young would be safe.

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 **That's the end of chapter 1. As you can see, it's a bit of a downer. And I assume some will be appalled that the not-yet-Crystal Gems were a part of this.**

 **Anyway, I may not update this for a while, since I've gone back to work on my Animal Farm fanfic. But, that doesn't mean you'll have to wait like 9 months; I already have the premise of the 2nd(and possibly final) chapter planned out, and a planned sequel to this fic, taking place afterwards.**

 **Until next time, Torotyrannus15.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, fellow fans of the glorious SU fandom! I bring about the 2nd chapter of Invasion! Sorry this took so long, I've been occupied with other things. I didn't mean to make chapter 2 this long, it just sort of happened. Anyway, enjoy!**

 **I do not own Steven Universe. I wish I did, but I do not**

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Somewhere in the uplands, a large, gray, stalk-eyed animal was running across the forested landscape, pursued by three much lankier, sprinting shapes.

Attagornis clutched something in his mouth as he ran from his pursuers, a trio of lankilopes, long-legged quadrupeds with long necks and fleshy lips that covered sharp canines. Lankilopes were herbivores, however, and they were chasing after Attagornis because of what the stalk-eye had in his mouth: a piece of dry woodmoss he had stolen from them.

Attagornis leaped over a fallen tree and dashed behind a large boulder to hide. Thankfully the rock was wide enough to conceal his eye stalks. The lankilopes leaped over the trunk and looked around for the stalk-eye. Lankilopes had excellent eyesight, but their sense of smell was rather inferior, compared to that of other animals.

Seeing as they had lost the thief, the lankilopes whined in defeat and trudged back the way they had come. Attagornis watched them leave with his left eye. When they were gone from sight, Attagornis came out of hiding and groaned to himself. This was what he was reduced to: stealing food from other animals. Attagornis clutched the woodmoss in his mouth, trying to resist the temptation to eat it himself, but it was not for him to eat.

Attagornis walked out to the edge of the forest and grunted, signalling his return. At once, three juvenile stalk-eyes came scurrying out from beneath a large boulder where they had been hidden throughout the day. These were Attagornis' three sons, all that the once proud leader had left of his herd. Their names were Arnon, Eo, and Algran. Attagornis had raised them from hatchlings, when the creatures with gems on their bodies came from space and destroyed the plains.

Attagornis dropped the chunk of woodmoss in front of the young, and they hungrily tore into it. It was getting harder and harder to keep both himself and the young fed, and most days only one of them got to eat. Attagornis was reduced to stealing from other animals to get food. He was not proud of it, but it was the only way.

Attagornis didn't know why this was happening. He looked up at the huge trees overhead; most had hardly any leaves left on their branches, and their bark was peeling off, revealing the dry wood inside. Attagornis then headed up towards a ledge where he could see over the trees. When he reached the top, he stood on his hind legs to see farther, and he saw the dead, barren wasteland that had once been the plains. The gem creatures' machines were still active over there, and Attagornis suspected that all this was their fault.

Suddenly, Attagornis heard a cry from below. The children were in danger! Attagornis leaped off the ledge and thundered down the rocky hillside to see that Arnon, Eo, and Algran had been cornered by a pack of screechers! However, these screechers were smaller than normal, and were very skinny. There were also far fewer than normal for a pack. Screechers were known to resort to cannibalism during times of crisis, and this had clearly taken a toll on the pack. Attagornis could see that the screechers were all around the same size. They must have eaten their alpha, and thus they could hardly function as a pack.

Attagornis roared and stood in front of his children, protecting them. The screechers were hesitant; with no alpha, they had no-one to signal the attack or design a strategy beforehand. They had thought three unprotected juvenile stalk-eyes would be an easy kill, but now that a huge, full grown bull was staring them down, the screechers were reconsidering.

Attagornis roared and charged at the screechers before they could react, and slammed the nearest one to the ground hard with his forefeet, crushing its spine. The remaining pack members turned to flee, but the stalk-eye gave chase and grabbed another by the skull in his jaws, and broke its neck with a thrust of his head. The four remaining screechers fled for their lives, while Attagornis roared at them, frightening them even further.

It seemed that Attagornis had been overly brutal in his attack, but in truth he had killed those two screechers for food, and partially out of mercy. They were half-starved and hardly able to think for themselves, and by killing them, Attagornis had spared them from an agonizing death of starvation or getting eaten by their pack mates, and in turn they provided him and his sons with food.

Arnon, Algran, and Eo had eaten what they could chew of the woodmoss, so Attagornis dragged the two bodies over to their temporary den to eat them. Stalk-eyes were known to eat meat from carcasses when food was scarce, but they had never been driven to kill food for themselves. The four stalk-eyes ate from the scrawny carcasses emotionlessly, and Attagornis saved the meatiest parts for his sons. When Attagornis had eaten enough for himself, which was not much, he left the rest for the young. He had to make sure that they got enough nourishment before he did. It was his purpose as a father to keep them alive as long as he possibly could, and hopefully they would be able to make it when he was gone.

Attagornis ate the remains of the chunk of woodmoss that the young could not eat, but it wasn't very much. Once the children were done eating from the screecher carcasses, Attagornis took some of the bones and smashed them onto the rocks, breaking them open and causing the shrunken marrow to spill out, which Arnon, Eo and Algran promptly ate. It wasn't much, but every scrap of food available was precious nowadays. As the young licked up what marrow there was, Attagornis dragged the screecher corpses away and threw them over a nearby ledge into a ravine, so that their scent wouldn't attract other desperate animals.

Once the three youngsters were finished, Attagornis grunted, telling them that they had to leave. It was as if the life had been sucked right out of the upland forest, following the plains. Stalk-eyes were not built to survive in these conditions, and Attagornis, Arnon, Eo, and Algran had held out as long as they could. There wasn't enough food left for them here, so leaving was the only option.

After scrounging what they could from the remains of their last meal, Attagornis bellowed and began heading south with his sons following at his side, up the foothills towards the mountains. Once they crossed the pass, they should find greener pastures, away from the desolate wasteland the plains and the uplands had become.

It took days of walking on the hard, rocky ground, with only tough, sparse mountain vegetation to eat, but they made it. As Attagornis, Arnon, Algran and Eo came to the top of the mountain pass, what they saw before them raised their spirits like nothing before: ahead lay a huge, lush forest, brimming with green.

The little ones squealed in excitement and ran towards the lush jungle, with Attagornis racing after them. When they reached the leafy paradise, Attagornis and his sons tore up mouthfuls of vegetation and savored them heartily, the first good food they'd tasted in months. They found a large stream nearby, and gulped the sweet, fresh water like they'd never drank it before.

The family of stalk-eyes ate and drank until their stomachs could hold no more. Eo, Arnon, and Algran nestled down into a bed of ferns and fell asleep with full stomachs. Attagornis smiled at his children. He didn't know what they would've done if they hadn't found this place. Attagornis was about to settle down with them, when he heard the sounds of other animals. He pushed through some brush to see the animals from the plains and the upland forests feeding on the plants in a small clearing, alongside some of the creatures native to this forest. It seemed they had found this new paradise as well, no doubt driven from their original homes by the slow death of the land somehow caused by the gem creatures' interference.

Attagornis headed back to his children, hoping that this many creatures in one area would not cause trouble, when a pack of smaller animals passed through. Attagornis stepped aside to let them pass, and saw that the animals were rocktrots, pig-like hoofed animals with long tails, usually native to the mountains. The mountains must have been running out of food as well.

Attagornis laid down beside his three children, curling his tail around them before laying his head down on the soft, mossy ground. Before the bull stalk-eye fell into a peaceful, serene slumber, he hoped with all his being that what had occurred on the plains by the gem creatures' doing was an isolated event. He hoped that the slow dying of the earth that had made the plains, forests, and now, apparently, the mountains uninhabitable would not spread, and would not drive any more hapless species out of their natural habitat.

As the suns began to set, Attagornis joined the children he had saved, first from being crushed, and then from starvation, in a dreamless sleep in their new home, where Attagornis knew they would be safe.

But sadly, he was wrong.

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Bleak. Lifeless. Desolate. A wasteland. Those were just a few words that could personify what had become of the once plentiful landscape, and the Planet itself as a whole. It had only been two years since the gem creatures first arrived on the planet, and destroyed a large area of the plains with their technology, and created that strange place, which the winged creatures had discovered and informed was some kind of reproduction site.

The animals had all thought it to be an isolated incident, but soon the gem creatures began spreading across the Planet to different locations, creating more of those odd sites, which were known as 'Kindergartens', as some animals had picked up.

Wherever these 'Kindergartens' sprang up, very soon the surrounding landscape would become drained of nutrients in the soil. Without rich soil plants could not grow, herbivores ran out of food, and so did the predators as their prey died off or vacated the region. Even the water sources in those areas became tainted, turned brown and filthy, becoming unsafe or even lethal to drink.

Wherever the animals went to escape, no matter how far or remote, the devastation eventually reached them, draining the life from the environment and forcing them to move on once again, until there was almost nowhere left to go.

The Planet had become a desolate, barren, wasteland.

Still, even in these deathly conditions, creatures still clinged to life as much as they could. With no greenery left, most if not all the animals turned to carnivorism, forced to eat flesh they were never intended to, just to survive. It didn't help that almost every animal still alive was hauntingly scrawny.

Out on what used to be a fertile valley, four creatures tiredly shambled along, four stalk-eyed creatures.

Attagornis trudged along the dusty, lifeless ground slowly, hardly having enough energy to move his feet consistently. He was deathly thin, his ribs could be seen poking through his skin, and even the outline of his spine and pelvis were visible. His eyes were bloodshot, his legs were bony and slim, and his tongue was hanging from his dry mouth. Everything about the once mighty stalk-eye's being personified starvation and suffering.

Behind Attagornis walked his three sons, Algran, Arnon, and little Eo. They were only slightly less scrawny as their father, as he still saved most of whatever food he could scrounge for them. They had not gotten much bigger in the past two years due to stunted growth from malnutrition, but they were still holding out.

The stalk-eyes soon came across the dry carcass of a giant moss-eater, huge, sloth-like creatures that ate moss, lichen, and woodmoss. Other animals, some former herbivores, were scavenging from the long-dead corpse, as even rotting meat would sate them now. The others did not fight, or even snarl a warning at the stalk-eyes as they approached and ate whatever meat was still on the bones, as they were focussed only on getting enough food to survive the day. When the bones of the carcass were picked bare of any remnant speck, the herbivores and predators turned scavengers went their own ways, hardly satisfied by the slim pickings.

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A few hours later, the clouds above became dark, signalling the coming of rain. Attagornis grunted to his children, and they looked up in anticipation. Then it happened. The clouds poured sweet, life-giving rain on the stalk-eyes, and they faced the sky with wide-open jaws, swallowing as many mouthfuls as they could collect in their mouths. Unfortunately, the rain only lasted a few minutes. Even the oceans were being depleted of clean water, and thus it wasn't enough to produce heavy clouds or enough rainwater.

Eo, Arnon, and Algran whined sadly as the rain stopped. Attagornis nuzzled his children to comfort them, and explained to them that this was the way he world was now, and every tiny amount of anything was precious. Attagornis then said that they should all get some sleep, for they had another long day ahead of them tomorrow.

Attagornis found a shallow cave nestled in the hillside. He sniffed the perimeter thoroughly, thankfully finding no traces of other animals, and then grunted for his children to follow him inside. All four of them were tired, and almost immediately collapsed onto the dusty floor in exhaustion. As Arnon, Algran, and Eo fell into an uncomfortable sleep, Attagornis curled his body around them to give them some comfort. Attagornis didn't know what they were going to do; there was no hope for the Planet now, and the suffering animals prayed night and day for deliverance from the torture and starvation that plagued them. Attagornis had all but given up. He had but one reason to stay alive. Three little reasons, actually, and they were right here, slumbering beside him.

When morning came, Attagornis was roused from his dreams of lush greenery and fresh water by a rumble beneath him. Not knowing what was causing the rumbling, Attagornis stood up and dashed out of the cave to see a thunder-walker, the largest living thing on the Planet, walking past right in front of him, its massive footsteps causing the quakes. Needless to say, Attagornis was humbled.

Thunder-walkers were over 150 feet tall, and had bodies resembling those of blue whales, but thicker and with short tails. Their enormous bodies were mounted on four skinny-looking legs which widened into huge, column-shaped feet. They were colored bluish-gray.

Attagornis stared in wonder at the behemoth before him, and the thunder-walker bellowed deep, echoing calls as it slowly passed. Attagornis heard his children call for him as they rushed out of the cave, only to go just as slack-jawed as their father when they saw the mighty beast before them.

The stalk-eyes were frozen in place with wonder as the graceful behemoth slowly passed them by, and kept staring until the giant beast was far away. While Eo, Algran, and Arnon were still mesmerized by the magnificence of what they had just witnessed, Attagornis watched the thunder-walker sadly, knowing that it was well possible that, in these desperate times of famine and drought, this thunder-walker could very well be the last of its kind.

* * *

A few days later, the stalk-eyes were heading up the steep valley wall. Attagornis sniffed the air, unfortunately detecting no food of any kind. He could hear the children's empty stomachs growling, begging for nourishment. The weak bull stalk-eye groaned in despair. He looked up at the dark sky, mourning for what his once beautiful world had become.

Attagornis simply could not go on. His weak legs began to tremble, and he was only seconds from collapsing, when he heard Arnon and Algran squeal.

Instantly snapping out of his trance, Attagornis turned with a start to see Arnon and Algran calling to him in distress. Attagornis looked passed them to see that Eo had collapsed on the dry ground.

Attagornis roared in horror and immediately ran to his sons. Eo lay still on the ground and his eyes were shut. Attagornis gently nudged Eo with his snout. The little one's only sign of life was a soft, weak whine and very soft breathing. Attagornis looked down at his two other children; they were looking to him to help, but Attagornis knew that nothing short of a miracle would save the little one now.

Eyes closed in sorrow, Attagornis raised his head and unleashed a great roar of despair into the sky, so loud and full of pain it echoed across the landscape. The cry reached the ears of those still alive, letting all know that a once proud chieftain had lost what meant most to him.

After letting loose his grief, Attagornis pressed his snout to Eo's body, unable to muster tears. It seemed Algran and Arnon understood, for they nuzzled their brother too for the last time. Eo, still just barely clinging to life, weakly opened his eye and met his father's. Attagornis would not leave him, nor would his brothers, ever.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed, and Attagornis looked to see a column of white light had appeared only a few yards away, seeming to come from a wide crystal-like stone. When the light dissipated, there stood something Attagornis had thought, and hoped, he would never see again.

Where the light stream had been, now stood the gem creature with the long, pink hair atop its head.

The stalk-eye's eyes widened in terror; a gem creature was here, and not only that, but the one that had led the assault and destruction of the plains and nearly killed his sons! As she turned to look at him, Attagornis noticed that she was not wearing the same battle armor she had been during the invasion. She now wore a long, loose-fitting white garment that exposed the pink gemstone on her midriff.

Attagornis was frozen in terror. What had she come to do? Kill his sons, as a final blow after destroying his home and wiping out his herd?

Regardless of her intentions, she was a threat. Attagornis stood his ground and roared fearsomely at the gem creature. He would fight to his last breath to protect his children, and nothing, on the Planet or whatever evil place the gem creatures came from, would stop him.

Attagornis roared with all his might at the gem creature, but, mysteriously, she did not attack him. She only stood on the light-making stone where she had appeared, staring at the starving, suffering creatures before her forlornly, almost like in regret, Attagornis saw.

Attagornis dared not move. He would stand here, protectively in front of his children, until his last breath. While his heart was still beating, he would not back down.

It was now that the most unexpected of all things happened. Slowly, the pink-haired gem creature stepped off the stone, towards the stalk-eyes. Attagornis resisted his instinct screaming at him to attack, but he had to save whatever strength remained in him for the inevitable fight ahead that would likely claim his life.

The gem creature took another step forward, and Arnon and Algran whimpered in fear, huddling up to Eo behind their father.

The gem creature came no further, thankfully. Attagonis snarled at her, daring her to come closer, but the pink-haired one was still as she looked down at the stalk-eyes, and Attagornis' eyes met hers.

Attagornis held his gaze on the gem creature as the reached into her dress and revealed a small, pink, spherical object. Attagornis growled, not knowing what she planned to do with it. To the stalk-eye's surprise, the pink-haired one opened the pink sphere delicately, and kneeled to lower it to the ground. Attagornis watched silently as a tiny, green thing slid out of the sphere, barely a few inches long. It looked like some kind of fuzzy moss or lichen.

Attagornis was about to snarl at the gem creature again, when he saw the small clump of moss begin to quiver. He, Arnon and Algran watched closely as the moss began to grow, spreading across the dead ground unrealistically quickly. It seemed the moss had a mind of its own, and didn't even need anything to nourish it. Attagornis looked up at the gem creature, and her eyes met his. Attagornis didn't know what she was doing, but she wasn't attacking, at least not in any way the stalk-eye could recognize.

By now the moss had grown considerably, reaching several feet across, and was still spreading at a steady pace. Arnon and Algran looked at the moss hungrily, recognizing it as food. They were about to pounce on the moss, but Attagornis growled, stopping them.

Attagornis told his sons to stay with Eo, and then he slowly approached the gem creature's moss, warily keeping his eyes on her. Soon, Attagornis was barely a foot away from the pink-haired gem creature. After several tense moments of complete silence, Attagornis averted his gaze down to the moss in front of him, his mouth begging to taste the succulent plant as the first real food he'd eaten in months.

Glancing up at the gem creature again, Attagornis had an honest feeling that, possibly, she had no ill-intent towards him and his sons. His previous experiences with her kind had all been negative to say the least, but now, it appeared, she was offering them food, and it was a law in the world of the animals that if you saw an advantage, you took it.

Carefully, Attagornis lowered his head and opened his jaws just a little, and took a miniscule bite from the patch of moss.

It was juicy. And fresh. And it was _food_. Attagornis swiftly tore a much bigger mouthful from the moss and chewed it lavishly, savoring its sweet, watery taste in his long-starved mouth. The stalk-eye groaned loudly in ecstasy, his long-starved tongue rolling the moss chunk all around his mouth in unsurpassable pleasure. Attagornis then swallowed the mouthful, groaning again ecstatically as the food entered his starved stomach. Attagornis immediately called to Arnon and Algran, and they came running, joining their father and scooping up mouthfuls of the moss rapidly. The moss continued to grow as they ate from it, and Attagornis would've kept eating to his heart's content, but then he remembered. Eo.

Attagornis turned to look at his smallest child. Eo was still lying on the ground, not moving. Attagornis roared in distress and left the moss, running up to Eo and listening to his breath.

Thank the stars; Eo was still breathing, but it was much too faint to be a good sign. Attagornis delicately picked up Eo in his jaws and looked around them desperately. His gaze fell back on the gem creature, who had stood up and was looking at the limp stalk-eye child in Attagornis' mouth.

In his desperation, Attagornis willed himself to trust her completely and ran back to her. Attagornis placed Eo gently on the moss bed, and looked up at the gem creature desperately, pleading for her to do something, anything, that would save his son's life.

Rose Quartz looked down at the dying young stalk-eye, and she couldn't help but feel awful for indirectly causing this entire thing. The desperate cries of the stalk-eye's father and siblings only worsened her heartache. Her eyes beginning to well up with tears, Rose knelt down and gently picked up the dying juvenile, cradling it in her arms. She then began to cry, and pink tears streaked down her cheeks, and fell onto Eo.

Attagornis watched as the pink gem creature shed tears over his son's body, and he knew there was no hope. Attagornis lowered his head in despair, but then, he heard a faint whine. Attagornis looked up, to see Eo awakening and calling to him!

Attagornis roared in excitement as Eo squealed and jumped out of the gem creature's arms, and father and son embraced each other. Attagornis groaned in relief, having been moments from losing his son forever, the gem creature had saved Eo's life with her healing tears.

Attagornis looked up at the gem creature, smiling as Arnon and Algran joyously hugged their brother. Rose smiled at the stalk-eye, and then, she carefully reached her hand forward, and Attagornis, realizing what she was doing, closed his eyes and leaned his head into her hand, allowing her to stroke his forehead.

Attagornis pulled his head back and looked up at Rose. Even after leading the attack and destruction of the plains, and being indirectly responsible for the state of the Planet, Attagornis had more than forgiven her for what she had done today. She had saved him and his children, and for that he would be indebted to her as long as he lived.

Attagornis then rejoined his sons in feasting on the succulent moss Rose Quartz had planted, and the blanket of green grew rapidly, even with four starving mouths bombarding it. But Attagornis knew that they still needed water. The moss itself was fairly moist already, but it wasn't enough. Attagornis could see a small waterhole a short distance away, but the water was dark and cloudy, tainted by the the nutrients being sucked out of the ground.

Rose noticed Attagornis looking at the filthy water, and knew she had to do something. Attagornis watched as she gently touched the moss with her finger, and almost instantaneously, a strip of moss shot out along the ground towards the waterhole, spreading as it went, and touched the sickly water. Attagornis and his sons watched in amazement as the filth disappeared from the water, turning it clean again, as if the moss had absorbed the pollution! Arnon, Algran, and Eo squealed in joy and ran to the water, Attagornis quickly joining them. After lapping the sweet, clean water for a few moments, Attagornis turned to see Rose smiling back at him as she returned to the flat-topped stone she had appeared on. In a flash of white light, she was gone.

Attagornis stared at the stone for several moments, until he felt something nuzzle against his leg. It was Eo. The little one looked up at his father happily, and Attagornis smiled back. The stalk-eye family then returned to feasting on the moss Rose Quartz has left, which by now had spread across the entire area. Attagornis wondered if it could spread across the entire planet, and then, he was struck with an idea; Maybe…

Attagornis had his thoughts suddenly interrupted by a honking moan from nearby. He and his sons looked to see a painfully gaunt lankilope struggling across the dry ground, its eyes glazed over. Attagornis called to the lankilope, and the starving herbivore looked at him, and when it saw the moss, it reared its head and gaped. Attagornis jerked his head, motioning for the lankilope to come eat with them, and instantly the starving herbivore sprang over to the moss patch and began ripping off mouthfuls and slurping up water from the cleansed pond until its cheeks could hold no more.

Arnon then alerted Attagornis as a trio of lizard-like birds descended onto the ground in front of the herbivores, and squawked at the bull stalk-eye, asking to eat. Attagornis announced that all were welcome, and the birds wasted no time in tearing into the moss with their parrot-like beaks.

Attagornis watched as the herbivores shared the precious food and water, and then his idea came back to him. He could use the promise of survival to unite the animals of the Planet.

Attagornis then called to the lizard-birds. He told them, after they had eaten their fill, to fly out in different directions to find as many animals still alive as the could, and tell them to come this way to the moss patch. The lizard-birds agreed to do so, and after eating to their hearts' content, leaped into the air and flew off in separate directions to find more animals.

The lankilope asked Attagornis why he had told the birds to do that, and the stalk-eye replied that he had a plan to save all the remaining living creatures.

Within hours, more starving animals arrived, most of them herbivores. They ate the succulent moss and drank the fresh water, and Attagornis told them how this saving food was given to them. Attagornis then told the animals that he had plan, a plan, if doable, that would secure the animals' future survival, and return the beauty and balance to their world. The animals all listened to Attagornis, and pledged to follow him, even the ones of lower intelligence. They were going to take their planet back from the gem creatures.

* * *

 **To Be Concluded!**

 **Sorry I took so long with this chapter, everybody. Things are looking up for Attagornis and the animals! Next chapter is the final one, where it all ends. Animals vs. Homeworld Gems in a final fight for the fate of the Planet! Who will win? And at what cost?**

 **Join us next time for the exciting conclusion!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally, I present the final chapter of Invasion! This is where the final battle begins, and get ready, this is a _LONG_ one! 16 pages on ! I hope you all enjoy. **

* * *

The skies were dark overhead, signalling an oncoming rainstorm. The first in a long time…

Years had passed since the Gem creatures had arrived on the Planet and invaded the native animals' home, and began reproducing themselves from inside the ground, sucking the richness out of the soil and turning the entire planet into a wasteland. The animals were nearly wiped out from starvation and lack of water, which had been turned filthy and polluted by the death of the Planet. It had seemed that any hope for survival was gone…

But then _she_ did something. A Gem creature, but a kind and benevolent one, had seen the horrible fate befalling the life of the Planet, and had changed it; the pink-haired Gem had introduced a strange kind of moss to the ground, and it grew and spread rapidly, as if nourishing itself without need of good soil or sunlight, or even water. Upon sunlight hitting it, the moss sprouting pink flowers, similar to the grass lilies that one grew on the plains. The flowers sailed in the wind and spread far and wide, sprouting more moss patches where they landed. The moss cleansed any water it touched, even the oceans, giving the animals food, water, and most important of all, hope.

A few animals had seen the pink-haired Gem, and came to know her name; Rose Quartz. She was pledged as a savoir by the animals, but they still held great anger towards the rest of her kind for what they had done. It was for this reason that, among all the animals saved by Rose Quartz's moss, a leader had arisen, with a plan to fight back.

An old bull stalk-eye…

* * *

Attagornis sniffed the air as a bolt of lightning crackled against the sky. The wind was blowing toward him, bringing the sterile scent of the Kindergarten and the dreaded Gem creatures that inhabited it to his nostrils. The great stalk-eye had aged over the years of the Planet's replenishment, but he was still in his prime as a fighter, and as a leader. Attagornis then turned to look behind him at the massive army of animals gathered under his command.

Thousands upon thousands of animals made up a monumental force, both herbivores and carnivores alike. The life-giving moss Rose Quartz had planted continued to spread, but the carnivores could not eat it, and they needed all the animals to take back their planet. Thus, the carnivores killed and ate only the weak, old, or sick of the prey animals, just as they did before all this, but now the weak individuals willingly came forward and sacrificed themselves for the greater good. Their deaths were certainly not in vain.

Miraculously, at least a few individuals from almost every species native to the Planet had survived the desolation long enough to be saved, and Attagornis' plan spread to all creatures, and they gladly joined the cause.

Attagornis, with an entire planet of soldiers at his back, stood atop a ridge, poised and ready; they were about to begin their attack on the original Kindergarten, on Attagornis' former home on the plains, where it all began.

Attagornis heard a grunt from beside him. It was Eo, Arnon, and Algran, his three sons. The three of them were all fully grown now, and were just as formidable stalk-eyes as their father. The three brothers all had mates and their own children now; they, along with all the other young and their guardians, were far away from here, safe in the mountains where no fighting would take place.

Two of Attagornis' subordinates then came up the ridge to speak with him. One was a scunner, larger, red-colored relatives of screechers, with short spikes and quills down their heads and necks, and down their long, muscular tails; his name was Nokran. The other was a screecher, in fact the very same screecher who's pack had attacked Attagornis' herd on the day of the invasion. The screecher was named Zras.

Nokran explained to Attagornis that some of the soldiers were getting restless, and asked when Attagonis planned to attack. Attagornis answered, and, in his own words,

" _The Gem creatures do not know we are amassing, nor where we shall attack from. They will not be expecting us. Even so, to at be the advantage we must charge at the moment of greatest confusion…"_ Lightning flashed ominously in the dark sky, followed by a clap of thunder.

" _We attack when the storm breaks."_

Nokran nodded and turned back to Zras, who headed back to the army and announced to them to charge when Attagornis gave the command. Every animal agreed, but some were unsure whether they could do it; many had seen what the Gem creatures were capable of. Zras assured them that they would all fight until they were victorious, and they had something the Gem creatures didn't; at the center of the army, a massive behemoth stood. The great beast was Naldus, last of the Thunder-walkers. At 200 feet tall, he would have dwarfed others of his kind, had they survived. Naldus held the Gem creatures guilty of his race's extinction, and, despite his kind's normally peaceful ways, he would fight to his last breath to avenge them.

Lightening crashed in the sky. Attagornis could feel that the storm was moments from erupting, and then they would charge. They would charge the Gem creatures on their own turf, and fight them to the death if they had to. But Attagornis wondered; could there be more Gem creatures like Rose Quartz? If there were, they had not disclosed this about themselves, not that any of the animals witnessed. Attagornis could not think about this now; the decisive battle for the fate of the Planet was mere moments away.

This was to be no single event; already, equally huge armies of animals, united under Attagornis, were storming Kindergartens across the Planet. Attagornis had been informed that this was where the Gem creatures' apparent leader was based. This was where they'd attack.

From their place in the Kindergarten and their flying ships, the Gem creatures had no idea they were about to face a massive rebellion, an entire planet strong, like none ever seen before or since.

Then it happened: with a crash of thunder and lightning, the storm broke, rain began pouring down.

The time was _now_ _._

Attagornis raised his head and let loose a roar so loud it silenced the thunder above. The mighty stalk-eye then leaped from the ride and began charging down the mountainside, the army following behind. Like a massive avalanche they surged down the mountainside towards the Kindergarten at incredible speed, but Attagornis outpaced all of them, his sons close behind.

Meanwhile, in the Kindergarten, a blue Gem, who wasn't currently overseeing Gem production, was looking through a telescope-like device. She had heard Attagornis' battle cry, and now saw the stalk-eye leading the enormous battalion of beasts straight towards the production site.

The Gem gaped at the sheer sight of the incredible number of animals, but she quickly snapped back to reality.

"Carnelian!" The blue gem ordered, alerting a larger, red Gem. "Alert the troops! We're under attack!"

Attagornis roared mightily, his army joining him as they neared the Kindergarten. Attagornis could see that the Gem creatures had realized the animals were attacking, and were preparing for battle, but that didn't matter. The animals were dead set on driving the invaders off their homeworld, or, if called for, kill them all off.

Then it began: a battle between two armies, from different worlds, in a clash that would determine the future of the Planet. To Attagornis, it was just like when the Gem creatures first invaded, when he had led an army of angered creatures to fight back, though now on much grander scale.

Attagornis roared long and loud, declaring his eternal defiance, as he and his army slammed into the Gem army with the force of a mountain.

Attagornis charged into the first Gem he saw, knocking it off its feet. Attagornis kept charging with the army, bringing down dozens of enemy soldiers as he went. When the Gems recovered from the shock of the initial charge was when the _real_ fight began.

If you were among either of the armies who clashed on that battlefield, in every direction you looked you would see animals battle ferociously with Gems. The Gems fought with their various weapons, cutting down animals almost effortlessly, but the animals retaliated, using their even wider range of biological weapons and attacks to counter them.

Very soon, animals began inflicting severe damage to Gems, but oddly, to the animals, at least, the Gems did not bleed. Instead, upon being stabbed, torn, crushed, or clawed, their bodies vanished in a cloud of mist, 'poofing' so to speak. What was left were their gemstones.

Not knowing precisely what to make of this, the animals resolved by crushing the gemstones, shattering them to pieces. The animals also saw that, if the gemstones weren't shattered quickly, the Gems' bodies would somehow reform, quite the unfair advantage.

But the animals had numbers on their side. They leaped onto Gems and sunk their teeth into their flesh, poofing them. They charged through the enemy like tanks, snatched Gems in their jaws and crunched them, and the arachnid-like, multi-armed Kralarus creatures grabbed numerous Gems in their clawed hands and threw them into the air.

The many winged creatures did their part as well; where Gems were overlooking the attack on balconies, the flying animals dove at them, clawing and jabbing at them with their beaks, and the bigger ones carried off Gems in their talons before dropping them. On the battlefield, the flyers dive-bombed the enemy, and even saved fellow animals from being slaughtered by swooping in and carrying their brethren out, before dropping them back among the animals' ranks again.

The Gems were just as relentless in their fight as the animals were; valiant animals were stabbed by spears, slashed by swords and axes, bludgeoned by flails, maces, and whips, and even had their skulls crushed by the Gems' remarkably powerful blows.

But the animals would show no fear; they tackled Gems, some much larger than themselves, and leaped onto the tall, four-legged machines the Gems were protecting, bringing them crashing to the ground. A herd of lankilopes leaped and kicked at several Gems at once, a pack of scunners and screechers pounced onto a tall machine a broke open the glass shell, blood-like fluid spilling onto the ground. Attagornis, his sons by his side, tore through Gems like cannonballs; Eo leaped onto a large Gem and pinned her to the ground, before cracking her gemstone between his jaws. Arnon and Algran crushed several scrawny Gems under their feet and shattered their gems. Attagornis barreled headfirst into another Gem, poofing her on impact. The stalk-eye then smashed the gemstone beneath his foot.

Everywhere, hundreds of animals were fighting hundreds of Gems. But by far the most fearsome sight of all was Naldus.

The mighty thunder-walker bellowed echoingly, and charged through the battlefield, crushing dozens upon dozens of enemies beneath his feet. Naldus roared his rage at the Gems for what they had done to his kind, and their weapons were useless on him.

Suddenly, Naldus heard a loud noise coming from above. The animals looked to the sky, and saw hundreds of the Gems' flying war machines approaching. The flying machines fired green laser bolts upon the animals, killing dozens in mere moments. The biggest of the flying creatures attacked the ships, bringing several crashing to the ground in flaming wreckage, but there were too many. Naldus roared and charged, destroying small ships on impact with his great body.

But it was still not enough. The ground creatures too tried to fight the ships, leaping from ridges of rock onto them and pulling them down, but the Gems sent out their huge red-eye drones, which fired red blasts upon the animals.

Given enough time, the greater animals would have been able to take down the flying assailants, but too many were coming. It was then that a piercing cry was heard over the battlefield; the animals looked up to see an enormous dragon-bird, a gigantic, feathered, fire-breathing flyer, pump its great wings and soar upwards, straight towards a red-eye drone.

The dragon-bird evaded the red blasts and grappled the drone in its talons, sending it careening into a another drone, causing them both to explode. The dragon-bird then blasted a huge plume of red fire at the drones and ships surrounding it, burning their outsides to a blackened crisp. The animals on the ground all roared in gratitude for the great dragon-bird, and then every winged animal, even the smallest of birds, flew upwards and amassed in a huge army around the dragon-bird, and together brought ship after ship crashing to the ground.

On the battlefield, the Gems and animals fought monstrously, each side trying to dent the other's forces. Attagornis, fighting beside his sons, noticed several Gems attaching strange devices to the rocky cliffs, which were covered in holes. The devices then sent out a green pulse, which covered the battlefield for a brief moment, but left the animals unharmed. Animals near the walls then heard a growing crumbling sound, and the ground began to tremble. Animals looked up to see hundreds of Gems bursting out of the cliffs and immediately joining the fight, cutting down the awestruck animals in scores as they attacked.

Attagornis roared for animals to fall back from the cliffs into a formation, but his call was lost over the noise. However, the large, armored burrowing animals roared and tunneled into the ground, coming up through the cliffs and crushing any Gem they found that hadn't burst out yet. The diggers then burst from the cliffs and crashed into Gems on the ground like meteors, rolling into huge armored balls and poofing Gems in their wake.

The biggest animals charged the new Gems that burst from the cliffs, smashing and crushing dozens with ease. But even many of the great beasts were felled by stabs to the neck and side by the murderous Gems' weapons.

The Gems seemed to be gaining the upper hand, but then Naldus, enraged, charged through the masses, his great footsteps coming down on every Gem in his path and crushing them to pieces. Smaller animals clung to the backs of big chargers, leaping off to attack unsuspecting Gems. Predator and prey worked together to fight the enemy; a lankilope threw a screecher onto the back of a huge Gem, a herd of stalk-eyes threw Gems away from an injured scunner, and when a tall, muscular orange Gem wounded an old snakeraptor, a group of dozens of dull green, pig-like animals called plodders tackled the Gem and overwhelmed it, saving the carnivore's life.

The animals were pushing forward, when suddenly a bright light appeared, and animals nearby looked to see a massive, towering figure of white light rise before them, revealed to be a gigantic Gem, but with four arms, several eyes, and _two_ gemstones on its body.

The huge Gem smashed its four fists on the ground, killing and knocking over dozens of animals. The animals were in for worse, as more Gems began doing some kind of dance with one another, and then their bodies melded together in the same white light, fusing together, before morphing into bigger Gems!

Many animals were terrified, but the leaders among them roared in defiance, telling their fellow troops that they could not give up, no matter what. The animals, knowing this, charged anew at the big, multi-limbed Gems with a collective roar of fury, leaping and charging into their towering foes in the dozens.

A group of herbivores and scavengers led by a scunner pulled a towering, six-armed Gem to the ground where it vanished, turning back into the original Gems, which the animals quickly poofed and shattered. The animals roared triumphantly, but then another glow appeared behind them. The animals turned to see an incredibly massive fused Gem appear, with dark green skin, a multitude of arms and terrifying eyes. The enormous Gem laughed wickedly, and was about to smash the animals with its huge fists, when a thunderous roar from behind the animals stopped her.

Naldus the thunder-walker emerged from the smoke and dust from the crashed ships, staring into the eyes of the Gem, just as massive as he. The monstrous Gem growled, but Naldus bellowed in opposition. He would not back down. The Gem stepped toward him and readied its multiple fists, but Naldus roared and stomped the ground, and charged the towering Gem head on.

Down below, Attagonis and his sons were leading a battalion towards the Gems' base in the Kindergarten, intent on destroying it and driving them away. On the way, however, the animals were met with fearsome rebellion by Gems, but many animals broke off to fight them, protecting Attagornis.

One large, orange Gem was in their path; she was an experienced warrior, and she recognized that Attagornis was leading the charge. The Gem summoned her weapon, a crasher helmet, and charged at the stalk-eye, intent on killing him.

A rockhorn, a pachycephalosaurus-like animal, saw the huge Gem about to attack. The rockhorn snorted and charged onto the scene, pushing Attagornis out of the way, and charged at the Gem, a huge crash echoing on the battlefield as they slammed heads, stopping each other in their tracks.

The rockhorn snorted and the orange Gem growled as they locked heads. The rockhorn was much smaller than the Gem, but he held strong, allowing Attagornis and his battalion enough time to pass and continue their charge. His strength beginning to falter, the rockhorn tried desperately to keep his feet on the ground, shutting eyes tightly to concentrate. Suddenly, the rockhorn felt himself hit by a powerful force, enough to knock him away from the Gem and land in the dirt. The muscular Gem had punched him in ribs, and now was smiling evilly at her fallen adversary.

The rockhorn moaned in the ache of the Gem's blow, but he had to keep fighting. He tried to stand, but his legs would not hold him. He could hear the Gem's wicked laughter, mocking him. The rockhorn then closed his eyes and focused on something; his mate and young. He had lost them in the suffering times, and he could do nothing to save them.

But now was his chance to exact retribution on the aliens who had killed them, and help save the Planet, for them.

Eyes narrowed in righteous hate, the rockhorn found the strength to stand, and he roared with the fury of a thunder-walker at the Gem. Scowling, the Gem charged the animal again, but the rockhorn did not charge her. He stood still, eyes closed, and waited.

Seconds before the Gem ran into him, the rockhorn ducked, dodging her attack, and slammed his armored head into the Gem's midsection, the sheer force of the impact knocking her over a hundred yards and into the ground. The rockhorn snorted at her before running back to the animals' ranks, rejoining the battle and roaring Attagornis' name.

It was now that several Gems realized that the Attagornis was leading the entire attack, and attempted to kill him. But animals would jump in front of Attagornis and take the blows, many sacrificing themselves.

Attagornis leaped onto a large Gem, clamped his jaws onto its arm and poofed it singlehandedly. Another tried to club him with a spiked mace, but Nokran roared and pounced on the Gem from behind, grappling her in his fanged jaws. Zras screeched at a short Gem and clawed at its body until it poofed, and threw the gem into the air where Eo caught it and crushed it between his teeth.

As Attagornis ran with his followers, he took solace in that he could see no Gem resembling Rose Quartz on the battlefield. Good. He wanted the good samaritan Gem to be far away from here, away from all this fighting and killing of both armies. Attagornis rammed a Gem out of the way, but then, too late, his left eye saw a skinny white Gem throw her spear straight for his neck.

A roar of pain was heard, not from Attagornis, but from Arnon! Arnon had leaped in front of his father and pushed him away at the last moment, the spear grazing his back. Attagornis, Algran, and Eo honked in shock, but then Arnon stood up and charged the white Gem. Attagornis roared for his son to stop, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

Arnon roared monstrously, and, frantic, the white Gem produced a second spear from her gem moments before Arnon leaped at her. Arnon gave a sickening cry of agony as her spear pierced his chest.

Attagornis roared in horror as his son fell to the ground, a bleeding gash in his chest. The white Gem quickly fled, but Attagornis cared not about her. The stalk-eye ran to his son, Algran and Eo following. The animals in Attagornis' battalion hurriedly surrounded the four stalk-eyes in a circle formation, keeping all Gems at bay.

Arnon was fatally wounded, blood gushing from his chest. The Gem's spear had missed his heart, but had stabbed into his lung. He was bleeding out quickly.

Attagornis looked down at his son, mortified. Eo and Algran were no different. Arnon groaned, his voice wheezing and pained, and looked up at his father and brothers. He knew he was dying.

Attagornis' eyes began to fill with tears as he looked in Arnon's eyes, which were slowly fading. The noise of the battle surrounding them faded to nothing as the stalk-eye slowly died. Attagornis shut his eyes tightly, and pressed his snout to his son's, and Eo and Algran did the same. Arnon, blood beginning to leak from his mouth, found the strength to smile at his father and brothers for the last time, before closing his eyes and breathing his last breath.

Arnon's head fell softly to the ground. Attagornis closed his eyes, and his tears dripped onto his son's lifeless body. Attagornis then raised his head, and roared long and loud. His cry echoed over the battlefield, filled with pain and sorrow. Algran and Eo joined him, mourning their brother, a death brought on by war.

Attagornis opened his eyes, and looked out across the battlefield. Both the animals and the Gems still battled fearsomely, none willing to back down. Attagornis, his heart burning with anger for what these aliens had done to his planet, roared furiously. Now, it was personal.

With a thunderous roar, Attagornis charged back into the fray, Algran and Eo by his side, and his battalion of warriors behind him, ready to give their lives in battle.

Gems attacked and tried to kill Attagornis in the dozens, but the enraged bull stalk-eye showed no fear and charged with the force of an avalanche, crashing into hundreds of Gems and poofing them from the sheer force of the impact. Shattering another gemstone, Attagornis, his warriors at his side, roared long and loud, declaring that he would never back down.

The ground cracked and trembled underfoot as Naldus and the enormous fusion Gem clashed in a battle akin to that of the gods. The Gem had a multitude of arms and fists at her disposal, but the thunder-walker was even greater in strength, and determination to avenge the death his species.

Naldus groaned as the Gem brought three of her clenched fists colliding with his skull, and retaliated by hitting her with his sheer bulk. The Gem tried to push back, digging her feet into the ground, but Naldus roared and held strong with every fiber of his being. The Gem faltered in her grip, allowing Naldus to shove her forward and throw her into the side of a cliff.

The Gem growled in rage, her body contorting in instability briefly.

" _That all you got?!"_ she taunted. Naldus, eyes narrowed in defiance, roared back, and the clash of the titans began anew.

Attagornis roared triumphantly as he crushed another Gem beneath his feet. His huge battalion was storming the inner areas of the Kindergarten, and there was a bigger concentration of Gems here to protect the base. But that mattered not to Attagornis, who was dead set on avenging his son, and freeing the Planet as a whole.

The animals were pushing back the Gems, and more and more soldiers were still charging into battle. Gems were being poofed in the hundreds. They tried retaliating with their weaponized air vessels, but the legions of winged beasts, led by the bold dragon-bird, brought the fight to them.

Meanwhile, at the center of the Kindergarten, a large ship/base hovered just above the ground, guarded by numerous large, armored Gems. So far the animals hadn't reached this sector yet, but they were rapidly advancing.

In one of the ship's many rooms, a tall, slender, Gem was pacing. She was primarily dark yellow in color, with a yellow gem on her chest. She had spiked hair and yellow eyes, as well.

The yellow Gem wore a disapproving glower. Somehow, the lower life forms native to this planet had survived the Gems' harvesting of the ground's natural resources for Gem production, decimating the surface. Now the life forms were attacking in a massive rebellion, and she had received word that this same instance was occurring in almost every other Kindergarten the Gems had established on his planet. The yellow Gem had no idea how these creatures had gained such powerful numbers. Her scouts had informed her that they'd observed large herds of these creatures feeding on huge fields of some kind of mossy plant, which should not have been possible, since there was nothing for any plant to nourish itself on anymore.

The Gem leader had no idea where this strange moss had come from, but she had a theory…

The Gem's thoughts were interrupted, however, when the communicator on her wrist bleeped. A holo-screen appeared from it, a transmission from the battlefield.

"Yellow Diamond!" **(Like I needed to say it)** The green Gem on the screen called in distress, fighting surrounding her. "We're getting blasted out here! These _things_ are relentless!

"Deploy the Red Eyes." Yellow Diamond said, her voice stern and unwavering.

"We _DID!_ " The green Gem, very stressed out, replied. "The enemy's air soldiers are taking them down in scores!" A piercing screech followed by a crash were then heard on the monitor. "We need to retreat!"

"No." Yellow Diamond said coldly. "Keep pushing forward; don't allow the attackers to reach the base."

"Um…" The green Gem said nervously. "About that-" But she was suddenly attacked by a huge, wolf-like animal, and the screen turned to static. Yellow Diamond scowled as the screen dissipated. She despised when lower life forms rebelled. It happened more often than you'd think, and it was a constant thorn in her side. Rebellions were normally crushed easily, though, but this one had erupted out of nowhere.

Suddenly, an alarm began to wail. "Alert!" It went. "Alert! The enemy is upon us!" And the base gave a tumultuous lurch as several huge animals body slammed it.

Attagornis roared as he and the army of animals following him charged the Gem base, poofing and shattering any guards that opposed them. Attagornis roared a command to a group of rockhorns, and they bashed their heads into the main entrance of the ship, busting it open. Attagornis ran through into the ship, leaving the others to hold off the Gems outside long enough for him to kill their leader. Eo and Algran wanted to go with their father, but he ordered them to stay back; he wouldn't lose any more of his loved ones today.

While Eo and Algran held the line outside, Attagornis charged through the halls of the ship, poofing any Gem that interfered but not wasting time to shatter them. He had to take out their leader, and then they would leave the Planet. Attagornis searched room after room, engaging Gem after Gem, but not once did his strength falter.

Attagornis then crashed through a door to an empty room. There were no Gems, but his keen nose detected _something_. Attagornis searched the room for anything of use, and accidentally pressed a panel on the wall, causing a small compartment on the wall nearby to open.

Attagornis peered into the opening, and what he saw astounded him; inside the compartment, nestled in a blanket of some sort, a clutch of shiny, spherical, brightly colored eggs lay.

Truthfully, Attagornis wasn't sure what the orbs were, but eggs was the first explanation that came to mind. The eggs were varying shades of magenta-red, with a small few bluish-white, and a single lavender, nestled in the center. Attagornis wasn't sure what to do at the moment, but then he saw movement behind him, and turned to see a pair of Gems, one magenta, one blue with a white tinge, enter the room and gasp at him.

The stalk-eye was reminded of that day, all those years ago, when the Gems had first invaded, and his three sons, mere hatchlings, were threatened by Rose Quartz. The situation was now reversed, with _Attagornis_ as the threat to precious life, still developing. The stalk-eye breathed softly and closed his eyes; he would be no part of this.

Head down, Attagornis made no sound as he ran past the two Gems into the halls, going back to his mission without a thought and leaving the Gem pair and their unborn young alone. He hoped desperately in the back of his mind that the Gems would leave peacefully.

"Fluorite! Tourmaline!" Yellow Diamond's voice sounded on the magenta Gem's wrist communicator, surprising them both.

"Y-yes, Yellow Diamond?" The Gem named Tourmaline answered.

"The guards informed me of an incursion; have you located anything?"

"Um…" Tourmaline pondered, looking at Fluorite, the blue Gem. "N-no. We haven't found anything yet."

"Hmm." Yellow Diamond said, but she was interrupted by a crash on the door to her quarters. Yellow Diamond turned to see a furious bull stalk-eye burst through the door panels and stare her in the eye, breathing heavily.

For a moment, Yellow Diamond and Attagornis stared at one another intensely, before Attagornis roared ferociously and charged. However, Yellow Diamond vaulted straight up, evading the attack. Attagornis skidded to a halt and turned to face his enemy as she landed adjacent to him. Attagornis snorted and charged her again, but again she evaded his attack, leaping to the side with her superior agility. Attagornis growled angrily, only to hear his adversary laugh coldly.

"So _this_ is the ringleader behind this whole thing," Yellow Diamond taunted with a sinister grin. "I must say, I'm unimpressed." Attagornis growled and roared at the Gem again, aiming another charge, only to again be avoided at the last moment. Yellow Diamond only laughed. Attagornis, exhausted by the battle effort, was quickly losing control.

"Such a lowly life form," Yellow Diamond spat. "Organizing such an attack. Indeed, it is impressive. But now you are finished." Yellow Diamond pointed her fist at Attagornis, and from her wrist came yellow gem shards. Attagornis hastily dodged the sharp shards, his energy beginning to falter. "Putting up a fight is futile. I can already see you weakening." The Gem said, grinning sinisterly and revealing her sharp teeth.

Attagornis, panting, roared defiantly at Yellow Diamond. She merely snickered and unleashed her barrage of shards upon him, not even bothering to summon her gem weapon. Attagornis dove and swerved to evade getting stabbed, and bellowed in pain as several shards pierced and grazed his hide, drawing blood. Furious, Attagornis roared monstrously at Yellow Diamond. He then charged again, and snapped his jaws at her, but she evaded every blow he could deliver, before finally punching him clean in the jaw.

Attagornis roared in pain as the force of the punch sent him reeling to the far wall. He groaned, trying to get up, but he felt Yellow Diamond's foot descend upon his neck, pushing him down.

Yellow Diamond grinned wickedly. "I must say, you intrigue me, beast; none have lasted this long against me in single combat before. But now, you will die." Attagornis, his eyes wide with terror, watched helplessly as Yellow Diamond's gem began to glow. Attagornis could do nothing as Yellow Diamond prepared to end his life. It was over. He had failed.

But, before Yellow Diamond could reveal her gem weapon to murder Attagornis, an enraged howl echoed through the halls of the base. Yellow Diamond turned to see four snarling beasts bust through the wall and charge at her. Attagornis was just as shocked; it was Eo and Algran, with Nokran and Zras by their side!

Having been caught off guard, Yellow Diamond hesitated for but a moment, but it was all Zras needed to spring onto her back and attack with his claws.

"Get off of me!" Yellow Diamond shouted, landing a punch on the screecher. But Zras had distracted her long enough for Norkran, Algran and Eo to ram her, freeing Attagornis.

Yellow Diamond hurriedly regained her footing, only to be whacked in the face by Nokran's tail. Yellow Diamond growled, beginning to lose her patience, before Zras clamped his jaws onto her arm. She tried to shake him off, but was rammed over by Algran. Algran went for Yellow Diamond's gem, but she punched him off of her and stood back up. She was very angry now.

The four animals stood together, defiant to the end. They roared at Yellow Diamond, who responded by activating more gem shards and hurling them at her enemies. Zras pushed Attagornis out of the way, taking a shard straight to the eye.

Zras screamed in agony, and Eo roared at Yellow Diamond and charged, but ended up being bombarded with shards, slashing his flesh in numerous places. Yellow Diamond grinned evilly as Eo fell to the floor.

Attagornis' eyes narrowed in unfathomable rage. He roared so loud it shook the entire ship, and charged towards Yellow Diamond like a bolt of lightning, giving her no time to react as he slammed into her, taking them both to the ground.

Yellow Diamond opened her eyes to see the most enraged stalk-eye pinning her to the floor. Attagornis roared incredibly loud into her face, his cry laced with hatred. The two enemy leaders stared into the others' eyes, both bent on ending the others' life by any means possible.

Attagornis was ready to finish her right then and there, when Nokran cried out, warning that dozens of Gem soldiers were pouring down the halls straight towards them. Attagornis paused; the four of them were tired, beaten, and bloody, and Zras had taken a shard to the _eye_. They had no chance against an army of Gems on their own. They had to get out, now.

Attagornis stared Yellow Diamond in the eye for one final time, the message clear that, if not for the circumstances, he would have killed her.

Attagornis than roared to retreat before leaping off Yellow Diamond and scooping the injured Eo onto his back with Algran's help. Nokran grabbed Zras gently in his clawed hands and set him on his back. The five animals then hurried to leave the chamber, running down the hall to escape.

Yellow Diamond stood to her feet as they left, glaring at the animals. This was not over yet…

* * *

The ship suddenly gave a tremendous lurch, throwing Attagornis, Algran, and Nokran as well as several Gems off their feet. After recovering his stance, Attagornis roared for the other to get back up, and hurry.

Outside, Naldus still clashed with the gigantic fusion Gem. She had knocked him into the Gem's base, laughing maniacally as the thunder-walker fell to the ground. But Naldus would not give in. He willed himself to stand again, and roared deeply at the huge Gem. She scowled, growing more impatient by the moment, and charged him. But Naldus was ready. He leaned forward as she crashed into him, forcing all his weight against her and the ground.

Naldus then forcibly hit the Gem with his skull, the blow knocking her into a cliff side. Before she could stand up, however, Naldus reared up and came down on her with his forefeet, pushing down hard on her with all his might. The giant Gem tried to retaliate, but Naldus focused all of the sheer immensity of his being down onto her, pushing her further into the ground. Then, in a show of such power and force twas thought only a moving mountain could muster, Naldus, in a tremendous explosion that engulfed the entire surrounding battlefield, poofed the fusion Gem, the several gems forming her crushed to dust under Naldus' feet.

Gems and animals alike stopped fighting to stare in awe; Naldus stood to his full height, turned to the sky, and roared long and echoing in victory, his great cry being heard as far as the next Kindergarten over, the animals there joining him.

Attagornis leaped out of the Gem base in time to see Naldus' triumphant roar, and joined in himself. Algran and Nokran followed, Zras laying on the scunner's back. By now the animals had pushed back the Gems to their bases, and many were retreating to their ships and taking off. Attagornis even saw a herd of animals swarm a small ship that was in the process of lifting off, overwhelming it and pulling it crashing to the ground.

Attagornis then heard a loud noise from behind him. He looked to see the main base taking off with the others, and he smiled. The Gems were leaving. As the ships all flew upwards into the sky, the animals all cheered at their victory; finally the Gems were leaving. Attagornis could see hundreds more ships flying in their direction, and joining up with the main fleet. The rebellion was successful; the other GEms were all collectively retreating from the animal armies' wrath. Attagornis led the animals in a roar of victory, but it would be short lived...

Aboard Yellow Diamond's ship, as it returned to Gem Mother Ship high above, the Gem leader glared down at the animals below from the front of the ship.

"Onyx.." She said, alerting a large, black soldier Gem.

"Yes, Yellow Diamond?"

"Fire the prototype weapon on them." This statement seemed to unnerve Onyx, as she hesitated with her reply.

"But, that...it hasn't even been tested yet! We can't-"

"I said," Yellow Diamond interrupted, venom in her words. "Do it." Onyx hesitated, before eventually responding.

"Yes, Yellow Diamond."

Attagornis watched as the Gem ships returned to their huge mother ships miles above. Eo and awoken, and stood by his father's side with Algran and Nokran. Zras was being looked after by some of the others while he recovered. The animals all cheered and celebrated their victory, but the dominant feeling among them all was relief, relief that no longer would the Gems plague their world and kill them off. At long last, the Planet was free.

Suddenly, however, Attagornis saw something big emerge from the front side of the center ship, pointed directly at them. The other animals noticed too, even the dragon-bird descended to see what was up.

The metal claws of the thing then spread open, and a strange orb of blazing green energy began to form between them, expanding rapidly. Attagornis had a very, very bad feeling.

In an instant, the energy orb burst into a green death-ray, hurtling straight towards the animals and turning the sky a sickly green. The animals all roared in horror; this was Yellow Diamond's plan. If she couldn't have the Planet, she'd make sure Attagornis didn't, either.

Every animal was frozen in terror as the glowing ray of death bared down on them with frightening speed. Attagornis, knowing that this was the end, looked at his two remaining sons. They too knew, and thus, the three stalk-eyes closed their eyes tight and huddled together. They would die as a family.

Suddenly, over the sound of the green energy ray, a thunderous roar was heard, and all turned to see Naldus thundering across the battlefield directly in the path of the beam!

He roared to all the other animals, commanding them to get far behind him. Not having a choice, the animals are crowded beneath the thunder-walker's shadow as the beam of death rapidly approached.

At the front, facing the death ray, Naldus stood strong and roared, stamping his feet on the ground.

In seconds, the green blast struck, hitting Naldus directly. But, to the animals' _and_ Gems' wide-eyed astonishment, the blast did nothing to Naldus! The thunder-walker roared as he was bombarded by the ray, but the green light was instead absorbed into his body, causing the green energy to reverberate in a blazing halo around Naldus' being.

Of course! Because of their huge size, thunder-walkers were often in danger of being struck by lightning during storms. Thus they had the ability to absorb high energy strikes with no ill effects, and it gave them extremely amplified strength and energy for a short time. Naldus was absorbing the energy blast, saving the animals from annihilation.

Naldus roared, the sheer power of the reverberating energy within him causing him great agony, and shaking the ground beneath him. Naldus then opened his eyes, and focused every fiber of his being. Naldus then raised his head towards the sky, and concentrated all the chaotic energy within himself into a single, massive pulse.

In her ship, Yellow Diamond's eyes widened in shock.

"In the name of-" Was all she had time to say before Naldus let loose a sky-rattling roar that unleashed a massive, 2nd burst of energy that shot back toward the Gem ships, obliterating several on impact, and it was only by rapid evasion that Yellow Diamond's ship was not among them.

Several ships were blown away by the blast, and hundreds of animals were knocked off their feet. The light was even seen all the way into the mountains by Attagornis' grandchildren. The blast was so powerful that it shot straight into outer space, so powerful that it even _nudged the entire planet a few inches closer to its sun._

The energy then burned out of Naldus, and the sky returned to normal, and the ground stopped shaking, except for the huge rumble that came as Naldus collapsed to the ground.

Up in her ship, Yellow Diamond, her eyes wide in shock at what had just happened, stared down at the animals. After several moments, she gave the order to take off, and leave the Planet behind.

The animals could see the Gem ships leaving, but all attention was on Naldus, who lay still on the ground. The massive amount of energy being absorbed and released into and from his body so rapidly had drained him completely. Attagornis came up to Naldus, who turned his head slowly to return the stalk-eye's gaze. In that moment all the animals knew that Naldus was dying. The brave, selfless thunder-walker, the only one of his kind remaining, had sacrificed himself to save them all.

Naldus and Attagornis bowed their heads to one another in a final show of respect, and then, his strength gone, Naldus rested his head on the ground, drew his final, great breath, and closed his eyes for the last time.

Every animal bowed their heads in sorrow as the great one's life peacefully left him. And then, Attagornis roared, long and loud into the sky, honoring the death of a such a valiant creature, who sacrificed his life for his fellow animals. Eo and Algran were the first to join their father, and then Nokran and Zras, and then all the animals that had survived the great battle. Their roars were heard in the next Kindergarten, and, knowing that they too must honor the fallen hero, the animals of that army joined in as well, and their roars were heard in the next Kindergartens, until the entire planet itself echoed with the roars of millions, honoring the bold sacrifice of the last thunder-walker.

As the Gem ships began to leave the upper atmosphere, Rose Quartz, from her quarters in the mother ship, could hear the sorrowful roars, and she smiled softly. Now, the animals were free, and their homeworld was safe.

When the great Naldus had been rightfully commemorated, the rain stopped pouring, and the sun came out, bathing the Planet anew in its light. Attagornis and his sons smiled. Now, they were free. They were all free. The Planet was freed from the evil grasp of the Gems, and the animals could all awaken and live again.

Finally it was all over. They had won.

* * *

 **It's DONE. Finally, it's finished! God _DAMN,_ you guys, this was _agonizing_ to finish. But it was all definitely worth the effort. But hold up, it's not done yet! There is a short epilogue coming next chapter, which I am posting right after this one. Don't go nowhere!**

 **And yes, I do support Gem Egg Hell! But those are geodes Attagornis finds, not actual eggs. There's a whole tumblr post explaining this, so I won't.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the epilogue of Invasion! Enjoy this final send off!**

* * *

Many years had passed since that day, when Attagornis led the animals of the Planet in a final fight against the Gems, and had emerged triumphant. But Attagornis could never have been able to do it without Rose Quartz, who saved him, and the Planet itself.

Since then, the Planet had recovered from the Gems' decimation of the surface and healed itself. The strange moss Rose had introduced was extremely rich in vital nutrients, and when it died, it sparked the growth of millions of seeds, dormant in the ground all across the planet. The original plant life had recovered remarkably quickly. The Kindergartens were a thing of memory; they were now all covered in plant life or flooded by lakes and rivers.

The Planet had returned to its natural state, and all the animals rejoiced. Sadly, the thunder-walkers were gone, having died with Naldus at the end of the great war. However, a smaller, dwarf species of thunder-walkers were discovered to be living on a distant archipelago. With the help of the leviathans that ruled the oceans, herds of these dwarf thunder-walkers, only up to 70 feet tall but otherwise identical to their extinct brethren, were brought to the mainland to replace them. The thunder-walkers were abroad once more, though now a smaller, separate species, but a few began getting bigger, thanks to the plentiful more food and space available to them.

Attagornis was now a very old stalk-eye. He had a new herd, but he was no longer the alpha; the title belonged to the strongest stalk-eyes in the herd, which were his sons, Eo and Algran. He had said his farewells to them and their families before leaving.

Attagornis could sense it approaching, but he was happy. He had lived a long life, a rich life. He had lived through an invasion, famine, starvation, and war. He had been a father, and a grandfather, and even great-grandfather, but now his time had come.

Stepping slowly on his old, weak legs, Attagornis began to leave the plains, heading toward a secluded forest. As he passed, every animal that saw him, young and old, great and small, carnivore and herbivore, bowed their heads in respect. He smiled a warm, old smile at each and every one of them.

As Attagornis neared his destination, he reflected on his long life; from the moment he hatched, to when he became leader of his old herd, to when the Gems invaded, to the suffering times with his sons, to the years leading up to the great war, to the war itself, and the tragic deaths of Arnon and Naldus. Then he remembered Rose. He had hoped to see her again, but decided it was for the best that she didn't return. She had done more than Attagornis could possibly repay her for, and the animals of the Planet all swore that if she ever did return, they'd welcome her with open claws.

Attagornis then reached the entrance to a small forest. He took a single look back at his grassland home and his herd; he could hear his sons leading them in roaring his name.

Attagornis smiled as he entered the forest, into the territory of a large pack of scunners and screechers. He could see them gathering on the branches and forest floor. This mixed pack was led cooperatively by the grandson of Nokran and the great-granddaughter of Zras. They knew why he was here.

Attagornis nodded to the two leaders of the pack, and they nodded back. Attagornis then calmly laid down on the soft forest floor, the screechers and scunners encircling him. The lead scunner was the first to come up to him.

"Close your eyes and rest, old one." He said with respect. "We will take care of the rest." His old eyes half closed, Attagornis nodded, and settled his head on the soft soil.

Then, all was peaceful.

* * *

 **And that's it. It's finished. I hope you all enjoyed this story, because I sure did. But I'm not done with the SU fandom yet! I do have a potential sequel in mind for this fic, not to mention another...**

 **Until next time, everyone. Thank you for reading!**


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